Results 41-60 of 159 for speaker:Billy Lawless

Seanad: Order of Business (28 Nov 2018)

Billy Lawless: The Cathaoirleach has it. I inform the House of a proposed reciprocal visa deal that would allow Irish citizens to apply for E-3 visas as part of new immigration legislation before the US House of Representatives. As the Bill is due to be voted on this evening, it is fingers crossed. The visas would come from the unused portion of the 10,500 E-3 visas currently allocated to Australia which...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018: Second Stage (21 Nov 2018)

Billy Lawless: I welcome the migrant groups and thank them for all they do for immigrants in this country. As an Irish citizen and American citizen, I am very proud that this is one of the few countries in Europe that does not have an anti-immigrant party. Long may that last. On 11 June 2004 the Irish people voted in favour of an amendment to our Constitution that in my view, both then and now, was a very...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018: Second Stage (21 Nov 2018)

Billy Lawless: -----for minors born in Ireland and that minors born in Ireland, rather than the non-national parents of minors born in Ireland, could themselves independently apply for citizenship if they meet the criteria.

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018: Second Stage (21 Nov 2018)

Billy Lawless: If I also understand the position correctly, this is not possible under the current legislation where only the non-national parent or guardian of the Irish born minor can apply. Perhaps Senator Bacik might elaborate on how this might work in practical terms. How would a minor born in Ireland who meets the amended criteria actually make this application? At no stage that I am aware of was...

Seanad: Irish Nationality and Citizenship (Naturalisation of Minors Born in Ireland) Bill 2018: Second Stage (21 Nov 2018)

Billy Lawless: Surely we can do the same thing here. I hope the Bill and the recent high profile cases of Irish-born children facing deportation encourages the Government to revisit the laws that followed the 2004 referendum.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: I am delighted Senator Ardagh referred to INIS. I did not realise that was the position. I am aware of the case of a student from California who is here to attend DCU for a semester and whose health coverage was not accepted when she arrived. That is right and proper. She sought an appointment and was due to be deported by 16 December. However, she could not get an appointment until...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: On Monday, I met Irish emigrant campaigners and leaders in London. They are seeking to secure the vote for Irish emigrants in next year's proposed referendum on voting rights for the Irish abroad. I look forward to working with the many emigrant groups to help win this referendum that the Government has proposed for May 2019. The Taoiseach and Government are committed to getting this...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: They also want to forget that the founders of the Republic called for a government elected by the suffrages of all of our men and woman, not one elected by a small group of taxpayers and landowners. Our demand for rightful equality - to have the immigrant vote counted - goes back to the founding democratic principle of this nation. We want to fulfil the promise of the Proclamation: one...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: The Senator is correct. I have never heard a complaint about voting in the Seanad election by overseas alumni of Trinity College Dublin or the National University of Ireland.

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: We have been admonished by the European Union on voting rights. In 2014, the European Commission stated that citizens exercising the right to free movement should not be disenfranchised in national elections. A few weeks ago, the European Parliament took up the issue of voting rights and Ireland was once again cited as having poor voting mechanisms. In the months ahead, I will appeal to...

Seanad: Order of Business (17 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: Hear, hear.

Seanad: Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (10 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: As a former publican and a former president of the Vintners Federation of Ireland, I compliment Senator Black on bringing this Bill through today. I am in total support of it. I was with a bunch of publicans last night in Galway, old friends from around the country, and all of them are 100% in support of the Bill the Senator has brought forward. There are many restrictions on pub owners as...

Seanad: Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (10 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: I am also very much in support of stopping advertising. We must stop children binge drinking. We must also stop the big companies targeting children at a young age, which to be straight about it is what they are doing. I have been a publican for the past 41 years and I am still in the business in the United States, and I very much welcome the Bill. I thank Senator Black for it. I am in...

Seanad: Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015: [Seanad Bill amended by the Dáil] Report and Final Stages (10 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: Of course. I respect that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence: Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals and Future of EU Development Funding: Discussion (4 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: I thank the witnesses for a comprehensive report. I support the aid that Ireland is to the fore in providing. My colleagues have mentioned awareness and how we make the Irish people aware of how important the aid they give is and the great work it is doing. One of my main concerns is the toxic atmosphere in the United States where the number of asylum seekers will be reduced to a third of...

Seanad: Order of Business (3 Oct 2018)

Billy Lawless: I wish to place on record my thanks to all the Irish support organisations around the world that assist, on a daily basis, Irish people living abroad with many issues of concern. These organisations provide general information and they also assist people in dealing with serious personal difficulties and tragedies. The support they offer to Irish communities goes mainly unrecorded but their...

Seanad: Order of Business (19 Jun 2018)

Billy Lawless: I stand as an Irish citizen, an immigrant citizen and a naturalised United States citizen. I am also a father and a grandfather and someone who moved to the United States over 20 years ago to pursue the American dream. I feel compelled to speak out today against the inhumane separation of immigrant children from their parents at the United States-Mexico border. These families, seeking...

Seanad: 25th Anniversary of Decriminalisation of Homosexuality: Motion (19 Jun 2018)

Billy Lawless: I thank the Minister for his fine speech. This may be the first time in this House when I almost feel incapable of using words with relative meaning, spoken as they are, in the presence of my colleague, the great Senator Norris. I also thank Senator Nash for introducing this important motion.

Seanad: 25th Anniversary of Decriminalisation of Homosexuality: Motion (19 Jun 2018)

Billy Lawless: I feel truly humbled to be a Member of a Seanad which has as a Member a man who almost single-handedly over the course of 50 years made our State and our society tolerant, as well as a beacon for other nations around the world. Who would have thought that in 1973, when Senator Norris commenced his campaign to decriminalise homosexuality, Ireland would become the first country in the entire...

Seanad: 25th Anniversary of Decriminalisation of Homosexuality: Motion (19 Jun 2018)

Billy Lawless: It is only right and proper that on this, the 25th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland, which was introduced by the then Minister for Justice, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, a county woman of my own, the House pays homage to Senator Norris's pursuit of equality and justice. It is also worth reflecting that it was the European Convention of Human Rights and the...